Apparatus for closing a bottle or a similar container with a capsule



Nov. 8, 1938. N. J. o. J. EBBEDAL 2,136,287

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING A BOTTLE OR A SIMILAR CONTAINER WITH A CAPSULE Filed July 6, 1957 Patented Nov. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR CLOSING A BOTTLE OR A SIMILAR CONTAINER WITH A CAPSULE Niels Jorgen Oluf Jensen Ebbedal, Copenhagen, Denmark Application July 6, 1937, Serial No. 152,242 In Denmark July 9, 1936 1 Claim.

' The present invention relates to an apparatus for closing a bottle or similar container with a capsule of metal foil or the like, shaped as a cylinder closed at top, such as particularly used for closing milk bottles by means of a thin aluminium capsule, the lower part of which is jammed or pressed firmly into an annular groove in the neck of the bottle, or below a flange on the same by a pressure exerted against the capsule by a soli) called closing head.

Various constructions of such so-called closing heads are known. One of these heads consists of a caoutchouc ring which, in that its outer part is pinched between two metal rings parallel to the caoutchouc ring bulges inward in such a manner that the diameter of the opening of the caoutchouc ring is decreased, and the latter is thereby caused to press the cylindrical capsule flange inward from all sides against the bottle neck. This 20 device, however, causes the caoutchouc ring to slide against the flange of the closing capsule and, thereby there is produced a rather heavy wear on the caoutchouc ring and, besides, a certain loosening of the capsule fixed on the bottle, 25 when the stress in the outer part of the caoutchouc ring is caused to cease, and the ring, consequently, assumes its original shape. By another known closing-head, the attachment of the capsule to the bottle neck is effected by means of 30 firm non-resilient jaws pressed from the outside against the bottle neck, and by still another closing-head the capsule is attached by means of an annular helical spring which is caused to roll down over the bottle neck with the capsule in 5 position. Finally, there are various hydraulically acting closing-heads by means of which the attachment of the capsule is effected in that a membrane laid down over the flange of the capsule is pressed against the bottle neck by means 40 of water pressure.

Finally a closing head is known to be used for attaching a paper lid or cover on the spherical open end of a bottle neck, the blank used for this purpose being provided with an adhesive along 45 the periphery of its underside. In this arrangement a thin membrane made from caoutchouc is pressed down over the paper blank, when placed in position on the end of the bottle neck after moistening of the adhesive on the underside of 50 the blank. By the said operation the blank is firmly attached to the bottle neck. The caoutchouc membrane used in such a device must, of course, be very thin relatively to its diameter, as, during the operation, its outer part must be bent 55 downwards for rather a long distance in order to press the peripheral part of the blank firmly against the sperical part of the bottle neck.

According to the present invention the apparatus for tightly attaching the capsule on the bottle neck consists mainly of a caoutchouc body 5 held only along its periphery in an annular holder and characterized in that it consists of a preferably circular disc, the thickness of which is considerable as compared with its diameter, and provided at its underside, in known manner, with a 1( central recess for receiving the free end of the bottle neck and the capsule placed thereon. By a suitable shaping and dimensioning of such a caoutchouc disc, the elastic deformation, to which it is exposed by being arched upward in consequence of the bottle neck with the capsule in position thereon being pressed up into the said recess and somewhat higher, will have for its effect that the flange of the capsule reaching down over the bottle neck will be pressed firmly, from all sides, towards the neck and into the groove in the same, or below the flange thereof, without any appreciable sliding motion taking place between the caoutchouc disc and the capsule, so that only a slight wear will take place.

Further, no loosening of the capsule will take place after it has been pressed into position, owing to the caoutchouc body being caused to as sume its normal shape after having pressed the capsule into position.

In the case of bottles having a larger neck diameter, it may be suitable or necessary to place in known manner a metallic disc at the bottom of the recess, in order to prevent the capsule from being pressed into the bottle in cases in which the central part of the caoutchouc disc has a tendency to bend itself inward owing to the stresses to which it is exposed.

The present apparatus may also be used in cases when the capsules are not finished, i. e. have no fiange bent down, but are directed to the closing machine as fiat blanks. The latter must then be' held in position above the bottle mouth, 1. e. they must be supported against lateral motions during the forming and closing. For this purpose there may be used in known manner a piston having a shaft on its top side, which piston is brought into contact with the top side of the blank. A central hole for this shaft must then be provided in the caoutchouc disc, in such a manner that the holder piston can move upward simultaneously with the bottle.

The accompanying drawing illustrates a few constructions of the invention as mentioned above,

Figs. 1 and 2 showing the most common construction, in diametrical section, before the bottle has yet been raised toward the caoutchouc disc and, respectively, during the closing process itself,

Fig. 3 showing a construction of the caoutchouc disc with a metal plate inserted therein, and

Figs. 4 and 5 similarly in diametrical section, showing a construction with a holder piston for the capsules, before the bottle has yet been raised towards the caoutchouc disc and, respectively, during the closing process.

In the construction shown, the caoutchouc disc I, which is supposed to be circular, is inserted, along its periphery, in a holder consisting of two annular members 2 and 3 which for instance, as shown, may be screwed together. The caoutchouc disc has, on its bottom face, an upward recess 4 corresponding to the neck of the bottle 5 shown below with the capsule 6 loosely applied. It is seen that care is taken to give the caoutchouc disc a sufiicient freedom to move upward, as it is not fixed or clasped along is periphery, but is inserted in a groove 1, the height of which at the inner face of the holder ring 3 is somewhat greater than the thickness of the caoutchouc disc at the corresponding point. Fig. 2 shows how the caoutchouc disc arches upward owing to the pressure exerted from below against the same by the bottle, and how the edge 8 of the recess 4 enters into the groove 9 of the bottle neck and, thereby, presses the capsule perfectly firmly into this groove, small folds being formed in the capsule material at a certain distance from one another, as known from any bottle closed in this manner. Fig. 3 shows the above mentioned metallic disc l inserted at the bottom of the recess 4, and Figs. 4 and show the holder piston II with the shaft l2 belonging thereto and passing up through a central hole in the caoutchouc disc, which arrangement is used in the case of non-finished capsules being applied to the bottle, i. e. only the stamped blanks I3 serving to form the capsules. The flanges on the capsules will then be formed in that the blank is pressed up into the recess 4 and, at the same time, the capsule will be pressed firmly on to the bottle.

It is not a condition for a reliable action of the apparatus that the thickness of the caoutchouc disc is diminished towards its periphery, as shown.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is:

In an apparatus for fixing sealing capsules over container necks, the combination of a resilient gripping block having a considerable thickness compared with its superficial area and cylindrically recessed on its underface to receive the container neck and the capsule-closure supported thereon, with a rigid holder provided at its inside with a groove loosely retaining the edge of the block therein, and the diameter of the recess being small relative to the diameter of the block, whereby the said holder will arch freely when pressed onto the container and the walls of the recess will be contracted by said arching movement to force the capsule skirt against the exterior on the container neck.

NIELS J ORGEN OLUF JENSEN EBBEDAL. 

